Buffon, Messi and Ronaldo on UEFA Player of the Year shortlist

Gianluigi Buffon, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the three nominees for the 2016/17 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award.

The winner will be announced at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 24 August.

The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stage of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.

The final result was based on the total number of votes cast by the coaches and the journalists. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.

Zlatan: The only Premier League player included
The self proclaimed best league in the world had only once player included in the 10 top players in Europe last season and that was Manchestr United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Although United fans will point out that the Red Devils had three players shortlisted for the Europa League 2016/2017 player of the year award: Zlatan, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.